The Morris County Prosecutor's Office has filed a forfeiture lawsuit to take possession of a 2007 Nissan Murano that it alleges a woman bought with some of $46,000 she is accused of stealing while employed by the Madison Pharmacy.

Khadijah Arnold, 21, of Morristown, was charged in May with stealing $33,151 from the pharmacy by allegedly using the MoneyGram machine to make money orders in $500 increments for herself. Borough detectives obtained a subpoena to access Arnold's bank records and allegedly learned she had pocketed $46,000 in MoneyGram orders.

The lawsuit filed by county Assistant Prosecutor Anthony Scibetta and made public Monday in Superior Court, Morristown, seeks forfeiture of a 2007 Nissan Murano that Arnold is suspected of buying with the stolen funds. The state's forfeiture laws allow prosecutors to extinguish people's property rights if they can prove that money or property was derived through illegal activity.

The lawsuit states that Madison Pharmacy owner Frank Iannarone called police on April 14 to report a suspected theft by Arnold after he discovered $2,500 missing on April 10. The suit says that Iannarone reviewed security surveillance footage and saw Arnold use the MoneyGram terminal on April 9 when no customers were around. He discovered that she printed five, $500 money orders and kept them that day, the lawsuit said.

Iannarone questioned Arnold about the missing $2,500 and she initially denied taking the money orders until he warned her she had one day to return the money or he would go to the police, the lawsuit said. Arnold returned the money and was fired. Iannarone decided to call police anyway out of concern that Arnold had stolen money from him previously, the lawsuit said.

Authorities and Iannarone discovered that Arnold, allegedly, had been printing out MoneyGram slips without depositing money into the cash register as far back as January. On Jan. 30 alone, she is accused of creating $4,000 in money orders for herself. Police interviewed her in May and she allegedly denied thefts beyond one time in April but then "proceeded to give a full confession" when confronted with evidence, the lawsuit said.

Arnold told police that she bought the Nissan Murano with stolen funds, making a down payment of $4,500 to MFG Prestige, a used car dealership in Paterson, and bi-monthly payments to the car's lienholder. She officially was charged with theft from the pharmacy on May 5, according to the lawsuit.